| "Can I Get It" | |
|---|---|
| Song byAdele | |
| from the album30 | |
| Released | 19 November 2021 |
| Studio |
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| Genre | Pop |
| Length | 3:30 |
| Label | Columbia |
| Songwriter(s) | |
| Producer(s) |
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| Lyric video | |
| "Can I Get It" onYouTube | |
"Can I Get It" is a song by the English singerAdele from her fourth studio album,30 (2021), written with the Swedish producersMax Martin andShellback. The song became available as the album's sixth track on 19 November 2021, when it was released byColumbia Records. Apop song withpop rock andcountry pop influences, "Can I Get It" has acoustic guitar, drum, and horn instrumentation and a whistledhook. The song is about moving on from a breakup and explores Adele's search for true love and the thrilling and wondrous parts of a new relationship.
"Can I Get It" received mixed reviews frommusic critics, who were generally positive about its acoustic portion and lyrics, but highly criticised its whistled hook. Some thought that what they called the song's "brazen" pop production catered to the tastes of mainstream radio, which made it an outlier on30, and compared it toFlo Rida's single "Whistle" (2012). It reached the top 20 in Sweden, Canada, Switzerland, Australia, Finland, and Norway and entered the top 40 in some other countries.
Adele began working on her fourth studio album by 2018.[1] She filed for divorce from her husband Simon Konecki in September 2019,[2] which inspired the album. After experiencing anxiety, Adele undertook therapy sessions and mended her estranged relationship with her father.[3] Single again for the first time in almost ten years, she sought a serious relationship in Los Angeles but struggled to find one. Adele said, "I lasted five seconds [dating there ...], everyone is someone or everyone wants to be someone."[4] She had regular conversations with her son,[3][5] which inspired her return to the studio and the album was developed as a body of work that would explain to her son why she left his father.[3]
Adele co-wrote the song "Can I Get It" with Swedish record producersMax Martin andShellback,[6] who had produced her 2016Mainstream Top 40 number-one single "Send My Love (To Your New Lover)".[7][8] "Can I Get It" is about wanting to be in a committed relationship instead of one centred around casual sex.[4] She released "Easy on Me" as thelead single from the album, entitled30, on 14 October 2021.[9] Adele announced the album's tracklist, which included "Can I Get It" as the sixth track, on 1 November 2021.[10] It became available fordigital download on30, which was released on 19 November.[11]
In the United Kingdom, "Can I Get It" debuted at number 7 on theOfficial Audio Streaming Chart.[12] The song peaked at number 26 on the USBillboard Hot 100 issued on 4 December 2021.[13] It charted at number 11 on theCanadian Hot 100.[14] "Can I Get It" debuted at number 15 in Australia.[15] The song peaked at number 39 in New Zealand.[16] Elsewhere, it charted at number 9 in Sweden,[17] number 13 on theBillboard Global 200,[18] number 14 in Switzerland,[19] number 16 in Finland,[20] number 19 in Norway,[21] number 25 in Denmark,[22] number 32 in Portugal,[23] number 40 in Austria,[24] number 71 in France,[25] and number 94 in Spain.[26]
"Can I Get It" is three minutes and 30 seconds long.[11] Martin and Shellback produced and programmed the song, which was recorded at MXM Studios, House Mouse Studios, and Kallbacken Studios in Sweden, MXM Studios in Los Angeles, and Eastcote Studios in London. Martin played piano and keyboards; Shellback played drums, bass, guitar, percussion, and keyboards and provided the whistle and stomps; Adele assisted him with handclaps.Randy Merrillmastered it atSterling Sound Studios in New York City;Serban Ghenea and John Hanesmixed it at MixStar Studios inVirginia Beach, Virginia; and Lasse Mårtén, Michael Ilbert, and Sam Holland engineered it.[6]
"Can I Get It" is apop song, with influences ofpop rock andcountry pop.[27][28][29] The song has akitchen sink production, which incorporates "acoustic guitar breakdowns, slickly produced drum loops, [...] and horns" according toExclaim!'s Kyle Mullin.[30] It includes a three-chordriff and Martin and Shellback provide a2010s music-influencedwhistle for itshook.[28][31][32] This inclusion was likened toFlo Rida's single "Whistle" (2012),[33][34] andLady Gaga's song "Why Did You Do That?" (2018).[35] TheLos Angeles Times's Mikael Wood andVariety's Chris Willman likened the "boot-scooting acoustic groove" and chorus guitar strums of "Can I Get It" toGeorge Michael's single "Faith" (1987).[36][37] Adele moans during the song's chorus; writing forSlant Magazine, Eric Mason stated that its spirited percussion instrumentation and her hushed moans construct a sultry atmosphere but get interrupted by its "discordantly chirpy whistle drop".[34][38] Ilana Kaplan ofConsequence described it as a "'70srock-inspired track" and David Cobbald ofThe Line of Best Fit called it an "American-inspired, stomping rodeo of a song".[33][39]
"Can I Get It" has lyrics about moving on from a breakup.[36] Adele returns to dating and tries to be more vulnerable with a new partner: "I'm counting on you/to put the pieces of me back together".[40] The song is about searching for a true romantic relationship,[41] refusing to settle for ahookup.[32] It explores the thrilling and wondrous parts of a romantic relationship.[39] The lyrics of "Can I Get It" avow and assure an extremely devoted love that borders on desperation and subservience.[27] She expresses optimism in the song and counts on this new affair to "set [her] free".[42] Adele pauses mid-sentence while singing its chorus's lyric "Let me just come and get it".[43]
"Can I Get It" received mixed reviews frommusic critics, who thought it strayed from the rest of30, which consisted mostly of emotionalballads[35] that seek Adele's identity outside of romantic relationships.[44]MusicOMH's Graeme Marsh thought the song's optimism and whistled portion made it sound misplaced.[42] Peter Piatkowski ofPopMatters stated that its brazen pop production felt "a bit shocking, almost disrespectful, and discordant" in the context of the album but praised its "earworm" hook and infectious chorus and favourably compared it to Adele's 2010 single "Rolling in the Deep".[27] Writing forDIY, Emma Swann viewed "Can I Get It" as "easily Adele's most conventionally 'pop' moment to date" and added that though its production defies her signature ballads, it also projects more character.[45]The A.V. Club's Gabrielle Sanchez wrote that the song constituted the "most pop-oriented and straightforward" segment of30, along with "Oh My God", but criticised its whistling as "a hollow carry-over from 2010s radio pop".[38]Maura Johnston ofEntertainment Weekly opined that it was one of "a few grand pop moments" on the album and noted that its carefree production complements its lyrics.[46] Writing forBillboard, Jason Lipshutz ranked "Can I Get It" as the second-best song on30; he believed it succeeded on all levels and could outdo the radio success of "Easy on Me".[31]
NME's El Hunt thought the acoustic part of "Can I Get It" was bright and intriguing but derailed by its whistled hook.[43] Cobbald praised the harmonies in its chorus but derided it as a "2013KeshaB-side, or something like 'Whistle' by Flo Rida"; he believed it did not attain what its writers intended.[33] Writing forThe Independent, Annabel Nugent described the "stomp-and-clap hook" of "Can I Get It" as "most unsettling" and thought Martin and Shellback left more of a mark on it than "Send My Love (To Your New Lover)".[35] Mapes identified the whistling as a "corny '10s pop trend" and thought it was crafted withpop andcountry radio in mind.[32] Willman named the song as the "most obvious booster-shot-bop" on30 and praised it as "Frankenstein-ian pop confection" but questioned if its different parts meshed well.[37] Wood opined that it lived up to its title.[36]
Piatkowski thought the vulnerability and honest depiction of love in the lyrics of "Can I Get It" showcased "the sting and candor of Adele at her most honest".[27] Kaplan stated that she waded into "more sensual territory" in the song, and Sanchez said it "harnesses a sensuality not often heard in Adele's work". The latter dismissed it as less interesting than the rest of the album and opined that the raw and moving lyricism on other tracks renders it a "mere blip in the grandeur of the rest of the album".[38][39] Hunt thought that while the rest of30's lyrics "stick to safer territory", Adele's pause in the chorus of "Can I Get It" is more frisky.[43]
Credits are adapted from theliner notes of30.[6]
| Chart (2021) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[15] | 15 |
| Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[24] | 40 |
| Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[14] | 11 |
| Denmark (Tracklisten)[22] | 25 |
| Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[20] | 16 |
| France (SNEP)[25] | 71 |
| Global 200 (Billboard)[18] | 13 |
| Iceland (Tónlistinn)[47] | 10 |
| New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[16] | 39 |
| Norway (VG-lista)[21] | 19 |
| Portugal (AFP)[23] | 32 |
| Spain (PROMUSICAE)[26] | 94 |
| Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[17] | 9 |
| Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[19] | 14 |
| UK Audio Streaming (OCC)[12] | 7 |
| USBillboard Hot 100[13] | 26 |
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[48] | Gold | 35,000‡ |
| Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[49] | Gold | 20,000‡ |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[50] | Silver | 200,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
| Studio albums | |
|---|---|
| Live albums | |
| Singles | |
| Featured singles | |
| Other songs | |
| Concerts | |
| Television | |
